YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 12, 2017

When investors believe in the founders, products, or ideas they will provide companies with funding. However, as a condition of financing they may require annual audited financial statements. For many startups this results in a need to raise additional financing through debt or equity arrangements.

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Forecast Early Stage Term Sheet 133

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

The Next Web

OCTOBER 7, 2013

As stated earlier, investors will dilute ownership upon nearly every round of financing. You might assume the lead investor wants a 20 percent stake and 15 percent option pool each time there’s a Series ‘Blah’ every 12 to 18 months, but this is admittedly too simple.

Engineer 129

Engineer Dilution Option Pool Vesting 129

David Teten

JANUARY 10, 2012

He is an active angel with many successful angel investments including: Rent.com, (purchased by Ebay in 2005 for $415 million), Golfnow.com (purchased by Comcast in June 2008), and Lifelock (lead investors include Bessemer Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers). and Tweetdeck (purchased by Twitter in June 2011).

Technical Review 128

Technical Review Technology North Carolina Switzerland 128

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 1, 2021

It became clear to us that while funding bodies are committed to supporting positive interventions and are ready to provide financing, they are discouraged by previous projects that cost too much and took too long. She’s also our lead investor interface, and great at articulating our vision to investors and partners alike.

Technical Review 125

Technical Review Founder Saudi Arabia Cofounder 125

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

How I Think About Seed Investing As A VC - Feld Thoughts , August 2, 2010 Last week saw an explosion of discussion around seed investing, including plenty of negative comments around VCs as seed investors. While I agree that many VCs are crummy seed investors, I think there are some that are excellent seed investors.

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Colombia has a few industries with massive potential for disruptive transformation , in particular, health and finance. Though still in early funding stages, Truora left Y-Combinator with regional investors Magma Partners and Kaszek Ventures, and foreign investors Y-Combinator and Accel. Industry gaps. Ayenda Rooms.

Colombia 146

Colombia America Technical Review Startup 146

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

You may happen to emphasize the right points that pique an investor’s interest, but you shouldn’t leave your financing up to chance. Second, understand the broader financing climate. In 2004, investors regained interest in the consumer internet again. Steer into your investors’ objections.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Viral Revenue Networking 111

BeyondVC

SEPTEMBER 13, 2006

Make sure your basic finances are in order and that all customer contracts, employment-related documents, financing paperwork, etc. It is quite simple to overlook this aspect of your business but taking care of your company and keeping your house in order is easy to do, especially if you start from Day 1.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Due Diligence 78

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

You get dilution sensitive and you start optimizing on price of a financing deal, versus finding the right partners or raising enough money to grow. The right lead investor and the right amount of cushion in a raise can help with the best defense against scaling disaster—hiring.

Dilution 104

Dilution Equity Hiring Partner 104

Genuine VC

JANUARY 15, 2015

However, in my personal experience, the come-from-behind lead investor is worth incorporating into the process, as it turns out more often than you’d expect that they end up leading the round. The post The “Come-from-Behind” Lead Investor appeared first on GenuineVC.'

Lead Investor 100

Lead Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital Portfolio 100

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

100M is a meaningful increase from our $50M third fund, though it’s still quite small in the grand scheme of venture, especially amid the recent wave of late stage financings and SPACs. This is a fresh $100M fund with the same high-conviction, hands-on seed strategy that we’ve been pursuing since the start of NextView over 10 years ago.

LP 411

LP Early Stage Seed Stage Venture Capital 411

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

Fred Wilson was his lead investor. I was the lead investor for Veripost. ” So for the deal, investors on both sides converted to common, we split the combined company 55/45, Matt became CEO, and Greg led a new Series A financing into the combined company. I’ve been working with Matt since 2000.

Fractional CTO 70

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 70

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Like many established finance & media companies, GLG knows that the tech startup sector is a growing part of the economy. Over the past 15 years we’ve built this amazing membership to serve our core clients – leading investors, corporations, consulting firms, and nonprofits. Or, you can go straight to the source.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

ithacaVC

MARCH 9, 2017

Sometimes at the seed stage, the company founder insists that he/she be the only board member and that once more financing is raised that the board composition will be normalized (code word for “adding more members”). We followed in line with the lead investor and went along with the structure.

Seed Stage 58

Seed Stage Software Review Institutional Investors Lead Investor 58

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

Behavioral Finance: Understanding the Human Element in Investing Behavioral finance delves into the psychological factors that influence decision-making in the context of investing. RIAs leverage insights from behavioral finance to help clients identify common cognitive biases that may hinder sound investment decisions.

Securities and Exchange Commission 138

Securities and Exchange Commission Portfolio Finance Due Diligence 138

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Look for Your Lead Investor. First you’ll want to find a lead investor — someone many other investors will recognize and respect. This list of top angel investors is a good start. Money and Finance Lists. I use a service like Tout to manage my email templates for quickly replies. Holiday Lists.

Social Media 80

Social Media Startup Angel Investor RSS 80

BeyondVC

SEPTEMBER 13, 2006

Make sure your basic finances are in order and that all customer contracts, employment-related documents, financing paperwork, etc. It is quite simple to overlook this aspect of your business but taking care of your company and keeping your house in order is easy to do, especially if you start from Day 1.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Due Diligence 60

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

We were just about to have a board meeting in another week to talk about raising another round of financing to keep our struggling disaster afloat. Steve, we thought we’d tell you this before the board meeting, but both our firms are going to pass on leading your next round.” Our board meetings were collegial and often fun.

San Francisco 333

San Francisco Silicon Valley Limited Partner Venture Capital 333

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

In previous blog posts I’ve written about the two main approaches to building a seed round syndicate – the subscription method (where an entrepreneur presets a structure with a convertible note or SAFE and recruits investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor) and a term-driving lead investor approach.

Syndicate 257

Syndicate Syndication Lead Investor Venture Capital 257

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

To provide relevant perspective, listing past convertible note(s) and/or equity financing(s) including total round size and valuation (caps) is helpful. Also, sharing some flavor (but not necessarily full detailed specifics) of the existing investor-set adds context.

Cap Table 211

Cap Table Seed Stage Valuation Dilution 211

View from Seed

OCTOBER 21, 2014

Sharing these pricing expectations early with potential lead investors fundamentally qualifies your conversations, but it also runs the risk of prematurely losing a potential financing partner, or else it can reduce options to maximize your fundraise outcome.

Valuation 336

Valuation Founder Seed Stage Angel Investor 336

VC Adventure

MAY 21, 2014

A few months ago AngelList announced Syndicates - enabling investors on AngelList to create fund-like groups of investors to invest together in AngelList companies (following a single lead investor). 506(b) vs 506(c): These refer to two of the SEC rules that regulate “crowdfunding” financing.

Syndicate 93

Syndicate Syndication Technical Review Due Diligence 93

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

This question helps an investor assess a deal’s level of competitiveness as well as the likelihood that it falls into a zone that the investor would consider reasonable. The tricky part of this discussion is that existing investors often aren’t that crisp about what they want to do in the new round.

Term Sheet 364

Term Sheet Burn Rate Founder Partner 364

Gust

OCTOBER 26, 2011

As we conclude our convertible note financing series, there are assorted terms commonly seen in term sheets and deal documents that are worth touching on briefly. The Note Purchase Agreement and Convertible Promissory Note are essential documents for any convertible note financing.

Finance 79

Finance Term Sheet Covenant Accredited Investor 79

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 18, 2017

The opening keynote session will define directions on Aligning the Role of Government Policymakers, Incumbent Banks, FinTech Innovators, Investors, Multilateral Agencies, MNOs and the Private Sector to Create a Dynamic Ecosystem for FinTech in Africa.

Africa 81

Africa Ethiopia Elevator Pitch Technical Review 81

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I accidently blow the cover of a hot startup raising a round of financing on AngelList (oops!) – hint – it’s a product that I talk very openly about loving but I’m not an investor. I ask Naval about the importance of a lead investor. What if nobody stands up as a lead investor?

Valuation 292

Valuation Deal Flow Lead Investor Cofounder 292

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

The average investor is fairly harmless, and even if they aren’t as helpful as one would hope, they rarely create major headaches. What you sometimes lose is the strength of the syndicate to support the company in the future if intermediate financing is needed.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Term Sheet Cofounder 207

Pascal's View

JULY 9, 2017

At its core, this issue points to the lack of understanding about the importance of post-money valuation by both entrepreneurs and investors. When it comes time to convert the notes, these entrepreneurs face ‘sticker shock’ about their post-financing ownership.

Post-Money Valuation 49

Post-Money Valuation Valuation Cap Table Covenant 49

Genuine VC

JULY 10, 2012

There are essentially two distinct basic strategies for startup entrepreneurs to raise a seed round of capital: Subscription approach – An entrepreneur sets a structure (usually a convertible note) and recruits individual angel investors who subscribe to the round, all without a term-driving lead investor.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Portfolio 207

Version One Ventures

JANUARY 28, 2013

Seed financing grew from 89 fundings in Q1 2009 to more than 500 in Q3 2012. That means there are a lot more seeded startups out there: an excess demand for a limited supply of Series A financings. Do your homework on potential investors. As an example, Version One has more than 50% of its funds reserved for follow-on financing.

Burn Rate 140

Burn Rate San Francisco Vesting Finance 140

Babbling VC

DECEMBER 5, 2010

Ultimately, money ran out again and this fund decided not to participate in a further financing round. This was absolutely catastrophic to the business as new investors were swayed by an insider (a reputable one at that) not going along with the investment. The company ran out of cash and was sold as part of a firesale. .

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Europe Portfolio Germany 76

Genuine VC

JULY 30, 2012

By communicating pricing expectations with potential lead investors, I mean sharing either an “ask” or even stated floor for the pre-money valuation of the company (with a priced preferred round) or explicitly stating a valuation cap (for convertible note round).

Valuation 136

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Syndicate 136

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 2, 2010

This prompted me to write a post titled AngelList Boulder and Some Thoughts on Seed Investing where I promised to write up some of my thoughts on how and why VCs could be good seed investors. They are: Fred Wilson: Lead Investors, Dipshit Companies, and Funding Every Entrepreneur. Tags: Seed Financing seed VC.

Angel Investor 152

Angel Investor Cofounder Syndicate Syndication 152

The Equity Kicker

DECEMBER 3, 2012

Chris Dixon wrote an interesting post yesterday which described two different ways of thinking about startup opportunities – the finance lens and the product lens. whilst investors typically look at opportunities from an investment perspective, asking the question ‘is there an opportunity to make a lot of money from this investment?’.

Finance 116

Finance Valuation Lead Investor Startup 116

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

In these cases we proactively offer to lead their next round of financing. The others would need to either sell, slim costs, find new lead investors or wind things down. How this works: I try to set a price that feels like a fair balance between GRP and the company. Ask their strategy.

Post-Money Valuation 298

Post-Money Valuation Term Sheet Warrant Partner 298

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

I’m a straight white dude who grew up in NYC and worked in finance. How competitive is your company going to be in the race to recruit the best women on the market (women—the segment of the talent market who hold the majority of new college degrees) when your lead investor is a top donor to an anti-choice org?

Cap Table 167

Cap Table Cofounder Private Equity Finance 167